The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1887-02-23
Captain Howard Resigns the WardenFihiF AID
Deputy Baxter Placed in Charge.
The Shortage Dsnisd by Towards Ftisris, Who
Say, II True, Will be Mads Coed.
TIE investigation VIII Continue for Weeks
Sensational Stories Denied-Heward
Cheerful-Fun Details, Etc
eUec,.l to the Sentinel.

LOUISVILLE, Feb. 1S.-When the com
mittee reached the prison this morning hey
had facts N their possession which made. the
resignation .of Warden Howard a ma tural
consequence. They had exam lined
many witnesses the previous day
and had held a secret sessio at
night at which much book exsminati on was
done and damaging testimony takerI. The
days work commenced by the Finance Com
mittee closeting themselves with th prison
oook-keeper. The other committees scat
tered to various parts of the bu ilding to
continue their work. Mr.. : ohm W. Coons,
Assistant Auditor of Indiana, had arrived ct
noon Thursday to act as expert in the exam
ination of the books. He is book k-keeper
and accountant of high reputation.
Captain Howard's face 'tlanclled when /
entered the prison door. he said to the
reporter he knew his hour- were numbered,
for he was aware of what en in vertigation By
a professional book-keeper would expose.
When Mr.. Matt T. hewitt, Captain BOW
ards book keeper, sppeared before the COM
mittee, NJ. Coonse began firing questions
at hin, VIII ich he coRld net answer and ask
irs sz2iaD ations he vas unable to make.
Then il We that Howard was called before
the comm littee. When Mr. Coonse and
Chairman Sinclair pressed him closely with
troubiesoDa ne questions lie became confused
and then ngry, and hot words passed be-
tween ther which were plainly heard upon
the out side. Captain Howard was
aying; "Cientlemen, have told you all
can about it," and then the chairman re.
piled sha' the committee was not satisfied.
There was a Iull in the room for few mo-
ments and then Captain Howard came cut,
His ResigGation
was soon ter in the hands OF the directors
and was immediately acted upon. Deputy
Warden Ge')rge w. Baxter was temporarily
appointed To fill the vacancy. The commit
teemen say that the revelations found are
startling. To begin with Hdr. Coonse, the
expert, says the bookkeeping is very defeo-
tive. 'Is the system used single or double
.entryT' he was asked, "It is mostly no
entry ct all,n he replied, lit is simply
outrageous. They can't show what has been
done with the States money. 'Is the al
legged shortage large3" every large"
"WhaS IS your estimate of the
amount" 1T is hard to estimate 1t
get, but it will be surprising" Tue amount
the committee says is divided up among the
departments. They report Howard behind
on all his accounts with the State. What
has been done with the money they declare
he has failed to show. Among other deyel-
-opments they find that Howard has borrowed
money from q great many of tke prisoners,
aggregatlng large amount. When the pris-
oners Go more than their assigned task they
are paid by thecontractoS for theextra labor.
In this way many of them accumulated
snug little sums. The money is paid to the
Warden by the contractors, and Is supposed
TO be placed to their credit on the books.
The committee will continue the inxestiga-
tion tomorrow.
Captain Howard was seen last night by
reporter, but he declined to be interviewed.
In regard to his alleged shortage he .stid:
''There is no shortage" He would make no
other statement.
A friend Of the Warden, who is in po-
sition to know. in speaking of the metterSo
q reporter, said: The stories TO the
effect that Captain Howard is short
in his accounts 60 the extent
of $4,000 or 100000 even
his enemies will admit is absurd. The
Warden has not handled that amount of
money since he has held the Office. There
may be shortage, but it will Eot exceed
Four Th0usand DoIIErs
at the most. The whole thing Is a conspir-
acy to down Howard politically, and break
the influence which he wialds in the State.
The books as have be shown
were closely kept, and it would
be an utter impossibility for
this committee the way they are now work
ing to discover the true state of affairs in
side Of three or four weeks. Captain Howard
said the best thing he could do under the cir
cumstances was to resign and then demands
settlement, which he will do when the proper
time arrives. In case there is shortage,
which his friends doubt, he win make good
the amount. The library fund was
in the custody Of the clerk. as was also the
convict fund. II there is any shortage his